


I Had A Dream About You

by Forgotten_Peggy



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: F/M, Fire, Nightmare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 05:09:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8315083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forgotten_Peggy/pseuds/Forgotten_Peggy
Summary: Nina can't stop thinking about Benny while she's at college, even though they broke up before she left for her second year.





	

I awoke with a start. It had been another one of those dreams. The ones with the house, and him.

_The flames leaped and danced around the house, engulfing everything in their reach. My eyes drifted up to where I knew his bedroom was, as I watched the orange flames flicker through the space where his window used to be._

_That was his house. He was in there._

_“Stay back!” The fireman ordered as I ran in the direction of the house._

_“No! He’s in there! You have to save him!” I screamed an ocean of tears threatened to flow from my eyes._

_“I’m so sorry, but there’s no way we’ll be able to get him out,” I shook my head desperately. I couldn’t leave him in there alone. “Miss-” he started, but I didn’t hear what he said after that._

_The heat intensified as I quickly approached the house. Somewhere in the distance, I heard people screaming at me to get away from the flames, but I didn’t listen. I leapt over the burning windowsill, my legs stinging as they came into contact with the heat._

_He was laying there, on the floor, almost unconscious. I ran to him, and held him tight in my arms. The flames continued to get bigger, but I stayed there with him until he closed his eyes for the final time, and I did too._

I’ve been having those dreams more regularly and more vividly over the past few weeks, and it doesn’t help that we haven’t spoken since I left again two months ago. When I think about him, my mind drifts to all of my friends and family back home, and suddenly those eight weeks seem like years.

I almost don’t want to face him after the dreams, but I know I have to. I have to talk to him, I have to apologise, and most of all, I have to see his face again, this time alive. I don’t know how, since he’s still in New York, and I’m still in California, all I know is that I’m willing to do anything to see him again.

* * *

 

I wait until the door closes behind my roommate before picking up my phone and making the call.

“Hey, Benny, it’s Nina. Um, how’s it going? I know we haven’t talked in a while but,” I trail off, unsure of what to say. “I want to see you again, so, um, call me back sometime?” The beep signals for me to stop rambling and I put my phone down on my bed, now unsure of what to do. I spent the last two hours pacing my room, convincing myself to make that call, and when he didn’t pick up it kind of threw me off. Now I have to wait for him to call me back, if he ever does.

I look over to the clock – only 8am. Thankfully my roommate already left for some hellishly early class, so when I flop back onto my bed I’m alone with my thoughts. I’ve only imagined three different ways Benny’s hypothetical call could end when I’m ripped out of my thoughts by a loud ringing. Benny. I reach out and grab my phone, but freeze when I grab it, too scared to turn it over and see the caller ID.

The final ring echoes through my tiny dorm room, and I groan, suddenly regretting not answering the call. As I turn my phone over, I’m only slightly disappointed to see that the caller was not Benny, but I’m confused when I’m met with my best friend’s name: _1 missed call – Usnavi._

Confused as to why he would call, I quickly call him back, partly just because we haven’t spoken in about a week now, which is forever for us. He answers on the second ring. “Hey, Usnavi, what’s up?”

“Why did you call Benny?” Oh. That means Benny listened to my voicemail, and it means that Usnavi was probably there as well. I look down, scared in a way, because I know how protective Usnavi is over his friends and family. “Nina?” Usnavi questions, and I realise that I’ve been silent for longer than I should be.

“I honestly don’t know,” I lie. Well, it’s partly a lie, but part truth as well. I don’t know what prompted me to actually call him after days of thinking about it.

“I think you do know, Nin, you never do anything without thinking it through first,” Damn Usnavi for befriending me at birth. He knows me too well for me to ever lie to him, even if it is only a half-lie.

“I keep having these nightmares where… I miss him Usnavi,” I confess.

“If I recall correctly, you’re the one who told him that you couldn’t keep up a long distance relationship while you’re at college. You’re the one who broke his heart when you broke up with him,” Usnavi says, his words breaking my heart as I’m reminded of everything I did.

“Yes, I remember. And I regret it, a lot,” I pause for a second in an attempt to gather my thoughts. “I still love Benny, and I miss him, that’s why I called him. I want to see him again,”

“But you’re at Stanford, and he’s still here,” Usnavi’s reminder feels like a stab in the heart.

“I know, that’s why I settled on calling him, but he didn’t pick up, and now we’re having this conversation,” I explain.

“Hmm, makes sense,” Usnavi says simply.

“Do you know why he didn’t pick up?” I ask desperately. I need to know why he didn’t want to speak to me. Does he have a new girlfriend already?

Usnavi sighs heavily. “You really hurt him Nina. I know you didn’t mean to, and you were just trying to prevent later mess, but he loved you, he still does. It broke his heart when you broke up with him,” It hurts to hear Usnavi say all that, I knew breaking up with Benny would hurt him a bit, but I never knew it would hurt him this much.

“I know,” I sigh. “I thought it was for the greater good at the time, but now I just want to take it all back. I am really sorry, I just wish I could tell Benny that. Could you maybe pass on my message?”

“Umm, just give me a second,” says Usnavi.

“Okay?” I say, confused, but he’s already away from his phone. I hear a bunch of shuffling around before the line goes silent for a minute or so. Then I hear him pick up the phone again.

“Usnavi, what happened?” I ask, still confused.

“Umm, hi,” And that is not Usnavi. I freeze for a few seconds, I did not expect to talk to him until much later.

“H-hey Benny,” I stutter, internally beating myself up for not being more calm and collected.

“Usnavi said I should give you a minute to explain yourself,” Benny says, his voice straining emotionless, but I know him well enough to know that he’s not.

“Okay, um, okay,” I try to collect my thoughts, now wishing I’d written a list of things I’d wanted to say to him. “Firstly, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you, I mean I knew it would a bit, but I never meant to hurt you this much,” I begin to ramble. “I regret everything I said that night. I never wanted to leave you, but I thought it was for the greater good. I thought you would just move on,” 

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you every second you were gone,” Benny interrupts quietly.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you either. I kept having these nightmares where you died, and it tore me apart,” I take a deep breath, now for the harder part. “I… I still love you Benny, I never stopped,” The line goes silent, and my heart skips a few beats.

“I still love you too Nin. Sonny tried to set me up on a few dates while you were gone to try and get my mind off you but every girl I saw reminded me that I wasn’t with you, and it broke my heart,” I stay silent for a few seconds, unsure of what to say.

“Hey, my spring break is coming up in a bit over a week, I think I’ve got just enough spare money from work to make it home for two weeks, how does that sound?” I smile a little at the thought of seeing everyone again. I’m even starting to miss little Sonny.

“But you still have to go back afterwards, what happened to you saying a long-distance relationship is too much work?” Benny asks, obviously sceptical since I hurt him so much last time. It hurts me because he used to be so trusting of me. I hope we can return to that point.

“I realised that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep you,”

“Is it too soon to call you my girlfriend again?” Benny asks, and I grin.

“I don’t think so,” I shrug, even though I know he can’t see me. I’m still grinning like an idiot.

“Good. In that case, Usnavi’s on my tail since I’m on his phone, so I’ll call you later. I love you Nina,”

“I love you Benny,” I have never been happier to say those words again, and I hope I never stop saying them.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Heights fic that I've written that I'm actually posting so please don't be hesitant to leave feedback in the comments. I wrote the first part (the dream sequence) a few months ago but only got around to finishing it recently. Also sorry the ending is so cheesy


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